MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Stakeholders in the automotive industry are gathering for the 22nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Automotive Dialogue, which is held Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City from April 22 to 24 to discuss the challenges facing the industry, the Office of the President reported.
The Automotive Dialogue, with the theme “Integrating SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) into the Automotive Global Value Chains,” aims to encourage economies to move toward more integrated regional and global approaches to automotive policies.
The APEC Automotive Dialogue is an avenue for APEC member economy officials and senior industry representatives to collaborate in formulating strategies to integrate and develop the automotive sector in the Asia-Pacific region.
The biannual event will be attended by more than 100 participants from APEC member economies.
Officials and senior industry representatives of various APEC member economies will update forum participants on ongoing APEC projects.
Presentation updates on projects include “The Electric Vehicle Project” by the People’s Republic of China; “SME Integration into Global Value Chains Project” by South Korea; and “GVC-SME Integration for the Automotive Sector (GSAS) Project” by Malaysia and the Philippines.
Philippine officials who will speak at the forum include Trade Assistant Secretary for Industry Development Ceferino S. Rodolfo.
Ramon Vicente T. Kabigting, also from the Philippines, will discuss “The Role and Contribution of Parts and Components SMEs in the Development of the Automotive Industry,” while Dennis Chan of Famous Secret Precision Machining will present “Integration Experiences of Auto Parts SMEs from Developing APEC Economies”.
Dr. Hangkoo Lee, Senior Research Fellow from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade, will present the “Integration Experiences of Auto Parts SMEs from Developed APEC Economies.” Other regional auto manufacturers will give their recommendations on how to speed up the integration process.
Mainstreaming SMEs into global and regional production networks is one of the four priorities of the Philippines as host of APEC 2015.
This recognizes SME development and capacity building as one of the pillars of the APEC economies’ collective efforts towards building more inclusive societies.
The Automotive Dialogue first met in 1999 in Indonesia and has continued to meet every year since then.
Among the APEC member economies actively participating in the dialogue are Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Viet Nam, and the United States.
The last meeting of the APEC Automotive Dialogue was held in Shanghai, China on September 16 to 19 last year. – BusinessNewsAsia.com